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Jean-Jacques Goldman (born October 11, 1951) is a French singer and songwriter. He is hugely popular in the French-speaking world, and in 2003 was the second-grossing French pop singer, after Johnny Hallyday.
Born in Paris to immigrant Polish Jewish parents, Jean-Jacques was the third of four children and learned first the violin, and then the piano as a child. In 1968, he abandoned his classical music studies for the guitar. He also earned a business degree from the Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales in Lille. In 1972, he met Catherine, his first wife, with whom he had three children.
He first entered the French music scene as member of a prog-rock group named Tai Phong ("great wind" in Vietnamese), which released its first album in 1975. Their first song to be a moderate hit was called "Sister Jane."
After four years and three albums sung in English with Tai Phong, however, he determined to go it alone and write and sing in French. In 1981, Marc Lumbroso discovered his recording "Il suffira d'un signe" and signed him to a five-album contract with Epic. His first album "Quelque chose de bizarre" was a failure, but it was the last one.
In 1982, his first hit album "Quand la musique est bonne" was released, and from that time forward, all his albums have been eagerly awaited and well received:
- Positif (1984)
- Non homologué (1985)
- Entre gris clair et gris foncé (1987)
- Fredericks-Goldman-Jones (1990) with Carole Fredericks and Michael Jones
- Rouge (1994) with Carole Fredericks and Michael Jones
- Singulier (1996), a collection of greatest hits from his solo career
- En passant (1997)
- Chansons pour les pieds (2001)
He also has released numerous live albums and writes for other singers, notably Céline Dion, with whom he collaborated on "D'eux" (released in the US as "The French Album.")
External links
http://enpassant.jean-jacques-goldman.com/
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